Football: Select Player Quotes

Geno SmithOn Saturday’s game against RutgersEven aside from the BCS bowl talk, this weekend is important for us to get a win for our seniors to send those guys out on a high note. We all want to get a win because it’s our last home game and just to boost the morale of the team.

On winning a BIG EAST titleIt would mean a lot to all of us. We came in with the intention of going undefeated, but we had a loss early. Then, our goal was to win the BIG EAST and we lost two games and put ourselves in the situation that put us in the hole, I think we climbed out of it and responded very well. It would be great if we won this game and won the BIG EAST, but we’re mainly focusing on just getting the win first.

On playing for the last time with Jock and NoelIt’s been a pleasure to work with guys who hold school records and just having them around is great for me as a person, as well as to grow and bond with two great athletes. When I see them on Sunday Night Football, I can say ‘I played with those guys.’

Ryan ClarkeOn Rutgers’ 0-15 record playing at WVUWe don’t focus on things like that, but I just try to focus on this week and continuing our game without making any mistakes. We don’t want to look past them, but look at them like we do every other team and come out with a win.

On playing RutgersOn their end, playing us probably gives them more motivation because they don’t have anything to lose. They could possibly use this to come out and play their hardest game. They have pretty good defense and offense, so they’re a pretty well-rounded team. We just need to make sure we come out on top.

On WVU’s comebackNo one thought our season would end up like this and it is especially good for the seniors that get to go out strong. We all just became more serious and mature because we knew that if we didn’t win the rest of our games, our season was over.

Bruce IrvinOn the end of the season approachingWe just want to go out on top because some of our seniors have been here for four or five years, so we want to let them leave with something they’ll always remember.

On the performance of the defense against PittI don’t think we did too well against Pitt. They went something like 9-and-13 on third down, so I think we could play much better than we did. We got that win and that’s all that matters, but there are still some things we need to get better at.

On playing RutgersThey’re going for their bowl game and it’s their seniors last game, so I’m sure they’re going to leave it all out on the field knowing that some of them won’t be strapping up again. You can’t sleep on Rutgers. They’re not a bad team, they just called some bad plays. We just have to go out there and prepare like we prepared for Pitt or any other team. It’s another game and we have to win.